A/N: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and her associates. Please support the official release.

Room of Requirement

27… 28… 29…

Pushing himself to the limit, Harry put all of his remaining energy and strength into finishing one last push-up, his body steadily rising from the ground on shaky arms.

"30."

Saying the final number out loud, he fell down onto his side as his muscles threatened to give out under the weight of his own body, all of his reserves totally depleted. This new training regime he had been following for the past couple of months was really starting to take its toll on him, and he could feel his arms already beginning to ache from the rigorous workout he had just put them through.

It had been some time since the decision to start working out had been made, and so far, it was a lot tougher than he had thought it was going to be. Forcing yourself to take forty minutes out of your schedule to do something that really wasn't all that pleasurable was something that had taken some getting used to, and he still often found himself having to mentally "psyche" himself up before he begun each workout.

The deal did come with some benefits, though. His physique had taken on a slightly more robust form now, and, if compared to his previous self, you could easily spot some significant changes to how he looked. His abs and lower abdomen had become more toned, not to the point of being clearly visible or even what could be considered "lean", but just enough that one could see that he had spent some time working out. His upper body had also seen some improvements, with his pectorals growing slightly more pronounced and his arms putting on some lean muscle as well.

He was still nowhere near the point of being "ripped", but he was at least not as scrawny as he used to be, and the traces of his aunt and uncle's abuse were slowly beginning to fade. The malnourished look he had sported for the past two years was almost gone, and he was starting to look more like an average teenager now. That had been the main reason why he had started working out in the first place, after all. Repairing the damage inflicted on him by his relatives.

Walking over to a nearby chair that he had willed into existence before starting on his workout, he grabbed the discarded robes he had put there and begun changing back into his normal attire. He usually chose to work out in the Room of Requirement these days, the room's ability to change according to its users' whims and wishes having proven to be quite the boon to his everyday life. Who would have thought that having a room that could turn into basically anything you wanted would be so useful?

After putting on his clothes, Harry conjured up a mirror and spent some time making sure his robes looked okay, before shooting one final look around to double check that he hadn't forgotten anything. Leaving something behind in the Room was usually a very bad idea, because chances were you would never get it back once you left.

Harry actually had no idea where the stuff would go, but he supposed it probably just vanished right along with the Room itself, so he had made it a habit to always make sure he hadn't forgotten anything before leaving.

Hearing the large, iron door slam shut behind him, he started on the long walk back to Ravenclaw Tower, his thoughts a jumbled mess. The past couple of days had been… tense, to say the least. The presence of the Dementors made him feel particularly jumpy, and the only thing Professor McGonagall had been willing to tell them was that the "Ministry had seen it fit to increase security around Hogwarts, considering the recent attack and Sirius Black's escape from Azkaban".

Harry still had mixed feelings about his Godfather. On one hand, he realized that the man very well could be dangerous, if nothing else due to all of the years he had spent being tortured in that wicked excuse of a Sovjet gulag the Ministry called a prison. But on the other, he adamantly refused to believe that such a close friend of his parents would truly be capable of betraying them all in favor of serving the Dark Lord.

If he ever got an opportunity to talk to Sirius, he would ask him these questions before he did anything else. He had to know if his Godfather was in fact innocent. The Ministry's story just... fit too well. It was too convenient. The impression Harry had of Minister Fudge was that he was a man afraid of direct confrontation, so it was more than plausible that the man had chosen to place the blame for the death of the Potters on an innocent man and ship him off to Azkaban in order to avoid negative attention by the press. To appear as if he was doing something, when in reality, he was actually just a useless piece of shit being bossed around by people far more influential than he was.

All of this was just pure speculation on Harry's part though. He really had no solid evidence to back any of this up, so none of his inquiries would hold any sort of weight in a court of law. Sirius would remain guilty until proven otherwise, and right now, Harry had no way of helping him.

As he continued on his walk, Harry failed to notice the sudden change in temperature, as engrossed in his thoughts as he was. The hallway had gotten significantly colder, with traces of frost beginning to creep up the stone walls. But it wasn't before Harry's own eyelashes started to freeze that he stopped and truly noticed the difference.

That's weird… I can't remember the castle being this cold just a couple of minutes ago…

By the time Harry realized what was about to happen, it was already too late. The Dementor had already found him. Harry watched in horror as the bony, black-robed creature slithered around the corner up ahead, its nonexistent eyes locking onto him like a predator to its prey. The temperature dropped yet again, this time sending noticeable waves of chills rippling through Harry's body.

Time seemed to slow down as the Dementor gradually started floating towards him, its foul mouth wide open in something resembling a silent scream. Harry could feel himself pull out his wand, uttering the incantation to the Expecto Patronum spell, but it felt… distant. As if he had been detached from his own body, forced to watch himself go through the motions as an onlooker instead of actually being the one in control.

Needless to say, his attempts were futile nonetheless. The spell failed to produce anything more than a slight silvery mist, and before he had the chance to turn around and run, the creature was upon him, its terrifying presence alone enough to wipe out all traces of happiness.

Harry could feel himself being drained, the Dementor sucking out all of his happy memories and feasting on them like a wild animal. He could do nothing as he fell to his knees, his meager resistance all but shattered by the dark creature that was ravaging his mind.

Harry's perception of time slowed down. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, and with each passing moment, he felt his sense of identity grow a little bit weaker. But just when Harry was about to give in to the darkness and fall unconscious, something… extraordinary… happened. It was as if someone had put a shield up in front of his thoughts, blocking out the Dementors' influence. It took him a moment to realize that that someone was in fact none other than himself.

It was his Occlumency barriers kicking in, shielding his mind from the evil entity that wanted to hurt it. The Dementor had sucked out all of the happiness he could give, leaving nothing but the void behind. That void was endless, never-ending and so incredibly dark. Occlumency was, after all, all about emptying the mind, leaving nothing but darkness for others to find. Now that the Dementor had removed the thoughts from Harry's mind, all that was left was that darkness. And there was nothing for the creature to feast on in that void.

Harry felt a twinge of grim satisfaction as he saw the Dementor visibly recoil, as if confused at this new change of events. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. The human was supposed to surrender to the darkness, not adopt and embrace it.

As his Occlumency barriers gradually grew in strength, Harry rose from the ground on shaky feet in a show of defiance. He would not give in to this wicked creature. He was stronger than that, stronger than it.

The Dementor, looking more and more despondent by the second, finally gave up its pointless struggle and turned away from Harry. This boy was different, and the Dementor didn't like that. The prey wasn't supposed to fight back. After it finally became obvious that there was nothing to be had here, the creature chose to retreat instead, floating away from the now thoroughly exhausted wizard.

His heart hammering against his ribs, Harry watched as the Dementor disappeared deeper into the castle, its frayed, black robe floating eerily in the air after it, leaving behind the foul smell of death. A small part of his brain was yelling at him that something important had just happened, and that he better remember it for later, but in that moment, Harry was too tired to really care. The only thing that mattered was that he had managed to fight off a Dementor without the use of an Expecto Patronum spell, proving that it wasn't an impossibility. He could worry about the specifics of that discovery later.

Right now, there was only one thing on Harry's mind.

I have to tell Hermione.

The Great Hall

Hermione Granger was in a bad mood. A really bad mood. Her day had turned out to be infuriating right from the start. You would think that with a Time Turner on her side, she would be able to catch up with all of her classes and keep on top of her studying. But something evil was happening. Something so dark, so cruel that she didn't even have the words to describe it. She was having trouble paying attention in class. Knowledge was flying right over her head.

An unnatural phenomenon was taking place. Hermione Granger had effectively reached the point where her brain could no longer keep up with the constant stream of information she was feeding it. She had been forced to face a terrifying realization: she had finally reached her limit.

In hindsight, it had been bound to happen at some point. Taking as many classes as she did, it wasn't weird that something from one lecture would mix with something from another, her brain struggling to properly sort and analyze all of the data it was being fed. But she hadn't expected it to happen so soon. She had only been using the Time Turner for a little over half-a-year, she couldn't be hitting her wall already!

Thoughts like these occupied her mind as she made her way into the Great Hall, getting seated in her usual spot towards the southern end of the Ravenclaw table. She silently noted Harry's absence, but didn't think much of it. He was probably busy running around the castle getting himself into trouble as usual. Now that she thought about it, that was quite possibly his most prominent skill, the ability to locate trouble and promptly throw himself head first into it.

And it wouldn't take long for her suspicions to be confirmed.

Just a couple of minutes later, whilst she was busy enjoying a nice piece of toast with melted butter and cheese, Harry came stumbling into the Great Hall, looking pale as a corpse and more than a little shaken up.

"Hermione…" he gasped as he noticed her sitting in her usual spot, hurrying towards her on unsteady feet.

"Oh here we go again… what did you do this time, Harry?" she replied with a sigh, spinning around on the bench to face him.

"I… didn't… do… anything…" Harry wheezed back, nearly falling to his knees as he leaned towards the table to support himself. That's when Hermione started to get a little worried, for real this time. He really didn't look good, and it became obvious that something bad had happened.

"Harry, you look like you've been chewed on by a dragon, spit out and then hit with a truck. What happened?

"D… Dementor…" he grimaced, causing a small gasp to escape from Hermione's lips.

"You were attacked by a Dementor?!"

"Yes…"

Her head racing to find answers, she hurriedly got up from the table and went over to Harry. Attacked by Dementors? That should've been impossible! The Headmaster himself had assured everyone that the creatures were purely there to act as security guards to protect them whilst Sirius Black was on the loose. They weren't supposed to attack students!

Putting one of his arms over her shoulders, she helped Harry to his feet, and then proceeded to lead him out of the Great Hall. All eyes were on them as they walked across the room, heading for the door. Nobody said a word, as if rushing to help or even making a sound would break the spell of silence placed upon them all.

Hermione felt a deep sense of disappointment in her fellow students then. She knew that Harry was hardly the most popular guy around, and that most people usually tried their best to avoid him, but it should still be a natural reaction for everyone to help those in need, especially if those in need literally came stumbling through the door. The fact that she was the only one rushing to his aid was deeply saddening to her.

"We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione stated with clear determination, a small grimace shooting across her face as Harry leaned more of his weight on her. Just when did he get this heavy?

"T… thanks, Hermione," he puffed back, struggling to remain conscious as a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm him.

"Oh please. This is hardly a first with you, Harry," she breathed back, leading them down corridor after corridor in a desperate bid to reach the Hospital Wing as quickly as possible.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally spotted the signature double doors that she had gotten all too accustomed to seeing for the past two-and-a-half years. Despite not wanting to, she couldn't help but think back to her Second Year at Hogwarts, and her meeting with the Basilisk. The fact that Harry had managed to slay that thing was, in hindsight, a lot more impressive than she had originally given him credit for. And now that she thought about it, it was probably around that time that she had first developed an interest in him, an interest that stretched beyond the boundaries of mere friendship.

Feeling the beginnings of a blush starting to creep its way onto her face, she shook her head violently to get rid of those types of thoughts. She didn't have time to dwell on her feelings for Harry right now. In this moment, she had to focus on helping him instead.

Pushing open one of the doors with her free hand, she practically dragged Harry into the Hospital Wing, shouting for Madam Pomfrey to come help. The matron didn't take long to show up, a shocked expression coloring her features as she noticed the state he was in.

"Merlin's beard, Harry! What manner of trouble did you throw yourself into this time?"

"Why… does everyone… assume… I enjoy… hurting myself?" he gasped, gratefully accepting the bed that was assigned to him by Madam Pomfrey.

"Oh, make no mistake, Mr. Potter. I do not for one second believe you enjoy the pain. I merely think your talent for seeking out danger overshadows the fear you have of getting hurt."

"That… might be right…"

"Now, lay perfectly still, and I will see what I can do for you."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione chimed in, her eyes firmly locked on Harry as the older woman scoured through a nearby medical cabinet in search of something that could help him.

"Hmmm… this should do the trick," the matron stated, coming back to them with an unknown vial of liquid in her hand. Harry cautiously took it when she offered it to him, a trace of suspicion flashing across his face.

"Oh, just drink it, will you? It's not like I'm going to poison you, Mr. Potter."

"Ahh, ehh… I knew that. I just… kinda dislike potions, that's all." Godric knows I already have enough foreign entities in my body.

Pulling out the small plug from the top of the bottle, Harry lifted it to his lips, and downed the contents within in one big swig. As he brought the now empty vial back down again, he launched into a violent coughing fit, his eyes welling up with tears as his body shook from the force.

"There we go, just let it work its magic. You'll be feeling better in no time."

A couple of minutes passed before the coughs finally died down. But once they did, it became obvious that whatever the potion was had worked, as Hermione could already see the color returning to his face.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. Whatever was in that potion really helped! I feel like I could run a marathon right now!"

"Yes yes, settle down now. What I gave you was an Invigoration Draught. It's a potion specifically designed to give the taker an energy boost," Madam Pomfrey explained, taking the empty vial from Harry and putting back in the cupboard. "It essentially gives you an overabundance of energy, sort of like a caffeine shot, except much, much stronger".

"Does that mean he'll be okay, Madam?" Hermione asked, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yes, I do believe so. It seems that Mr. Potter here had simply exhausted his magical core. What caused such a thing to happen, however, I have no clue. Perhaps the young Mister would be so kind as to enlighten us?"

"Erm…" Harry started, doing a poor job of concealing his doubt. "Well, you see…"

"He was attacked by a Dementor," Hermione blurted out before she had the time to think about what she was doing.

"He was… what now?"

"Attacked. By a Dementor," she repeated, her mind finally beginning to realize the repercussions such an event might have.

"But… Albus reassured us those hideous creatures would stay far away from the students… I… I don't…" It was obvious that Madam Pomfrey really didn't know how to react to hearing such a thing, as it had probably been the last thing she was expecting to hear. Usually when students came to her Wing with an exhausted magical core, it was because they had attempted to cast complex magic that far exceeded their own level, not because one of the most dangerous creatures in the wizarding world had attacked them.

"It's okay, Madam Pomfrey, it really is. I managed to fight it off, even if I had to use a little too much magic to do so," Harry reassured her, internally grimacing at the effort it took him to do so. He apparently wasn't completely healed yet, as he could still feel the immense exhaustion weighing down his body with each word he spoke.

"You fought it off? How?" Madam Pomfrey asked, a confused look replacing the shocked one. "It's highly unusual for a child your age to know how to cast the Patronus Charm."

"Well, I... I didn't use a Patronus," Harry mumbled in response, awkwardly shifting his gaze away from the matron.

"You didn't?" both Hermione and Madam Pomfrey gasped in unison.

"No…" he replied, looking even more uncomfortable now.

"Then… then… how? How did you do it?" Hermione asked, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.

"I… used Occlumency."

"Occlumency?!"

"Yes, Occlumency."

A moment of silence passed then, as both Hermione and Madam Pomfrey struggled to make sense of what he had just told them.

"But… that's impossible…" Madam Pomfrey muttered; her eyes firmly locked on Harry as her brain struggled to find an answer. "You can't use Occlumency to defeat a Dementor… that just doesn't work…"

"Are you sure that's what you did, Harry?" Hermione asked, to which Harry nodded in response.

"Yes, Hermione, I'm pretty sure that's what I did. I wouldn't be sitting here right now if I hadn't. You know just as well as me that I can't cast the Patronus Charm."

"That's… true…"

"So the only way I could've escaped that Dementor was by using Occlumency. And that's what I did."

Another moment of silence came and went, before Madam Pomfrey finally shook herself out of the trance.

"Well, whatever it was you did, I still have to report this incident to the Headmaster. I'm sure he will be deeply shocked to hear about this, especially considering the… unconventional method… used to fight off the creature."

"Any chance you could perhaps omit that last part from your report?" Harry frowned, not really expecting her to do so.

"Not at all, Mr. Potter. Not at all."

Harry was released from the Hospital Wing a few hours later, after Madam Pomfrey had made sure that he was in a good enough condition to leave. As he walked out into the hallway, he immediately spotted Hermione leaning up against the wall, obviously waiting for him to get out.

"Hermione, I…" he started as he approached her, but she cut him off before he had a chance to finish his sentence.

"Harry, did you lie to me in there?" she asked, her voice firm and demanding.

"W… what? Lie to you?"

"Yes, lie to me. Did you?"

It took him a moment to realize that she actually wanted a serious answer from him.

"No! I was telling the truth, I promise!"

She regarded him with suspicion, her eyes measuring him from head to toe.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Of course I am!"

Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes and turned away from him.

"Good. Follow me."

Surprised at the sudden change of tone, Harry could do nothing but hurry after her as she set off walking down the hallway, her pace brisk and determined.

"Uhm… Hermione?" he asked, gathering up the courage to ask her. Godric, she was really scary when she was mad. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"Wait and see," she replied, apparently not in the mood to humor his request. Deciding that silence was probably the best option at this point, Harry promptly shut his mouth, and kept on walking.

After climbing up a couple of staircases, the duo eventually came to a halt in the middle of what appeared to be a completely ordinary hallway. Harry immediately recognized where they were, of course. They were on the 7th floor, right outside of the Room of Requirement.

"Ehh… Hermione, what are we doing here?"

"Just shut up and let me focus, okay?"

"O… okay…"

He stood in silence and watched as Hermione closed her eyes and willed the double iron doors into existence. He had no clue what form she wanted the room to take, but he figured he would find out soon enough. It was obvious she had a reason for bringing him here, even if he couldn't personally see why right now.

"Alright, it's done. In here," she stated matter-of-factly, pushing open one of the doors with a firm hand and entering the room. Letting out a sigh of defeat, he followed after her, making sure to close the door behind him once he was inside.

Oh boy, here we go…

Damn it, this took me way longer than intended to finish. It's been well over a month now since the last update, and in that time, we have officially reached 25,000 views on this story. That's an absolutely crazy number, and I can't thank each and every one of you enough for taking the time to check out my work. It truly means the world to me.

Now, with school nearing its climax in the next couple of months, things are going to be busy around here. I might not have enough time or energy to write. But I promise I will try my best. I am determined to finish this story, even if it means staying up extra late. Speaking of late, it is currently 1 AM in the middle of the night here right now, and I have school tomorrow, so I'm just going to end this A/N here. I hope you enjoyed the read, and would perhaps be willing to drop a review with your thoughts. It makes my day whenever someone leaves a review, after all.

And I will see you guys in the next chapter.

-Twisted